- Korea’s largest startup festival, COMEUP 2025, opens on December 10 (KST), bringing together innovative startups, global and domestic investors, and major corporations.
- From December 10–12 at COEX Seoul, the three-day event features conferences, exhibitions, IR pitching, business matchmaking, and open innovation programs across the themes of Deep Tech, Global, and Entrepreneurship.
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, Minister Sungsook Han) and the Korea Startup Forum (KSF, Chairman Sangwoo Han) announced that COMEUP 2025, Korea’s largest global startup festival, officially opened on Wednesday, December 10 at COEX Seoul. Launched in 2019, COMEUP has grown into a premier platform where innovative startups, global and domestic investors, and major corporations gather to exchange insights and explore opportunities for collaboration.
COMEUP 2025_ Recode the Future — Officially Opens in Seoul
Now in its seventh year, COMEUP 2025 is taking place from December 10 to 12 under the slogan “Recode the Future.” A wide range of programs, including conferences, exhibitions, IR pitching, and open innovation sessions, are being held across three core themes: Tech, Global, and Entrepreneurship. The festival began with an opening performance by Jinwoo Kim, CEO of LINER, an AI search engine startup selected as a 2025 “Pre-Unicorn.” His interactive demonstration with AI delivered the message that while AI predicts the future, startups are the ones who rewrite it.
This year’s event features 275 startups from 46 countries presenting their technologies and services. Seven countries, including Saudi Arabia and India, have set up national pavilions to showcase their ecosystems and promote their leading startups. Key figures from the global tech and startup ecosystems are also taking the stage throughout the festival. Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, Saudi Arabia’s national AI company, and Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, are delivering keynote speeches aligned with the festival theme, “Recode the Future.” Additional conference sessions over the three days explore diverse topics such as the future of the app ecosystem in the AI era, technologies addressing the climate crisis, emerging Gen-Z entrepreneurs born in 2004–2006, and the realities of a founder’s life as seen through the eyes of their children.
COMEUP 2025 also offers expanded opportunities for startups to meet global investors and leading corporations. A wide range of global VCs, CVCs, and accelerators have been invited to strengthen investment and partnership channels. Thirty-five global and major Korean corporations are participating on-site to engage with startups and explore co-innovation possibilities. More than 2,000 business matchmaking meetings are being arranged, supported by investor booths and corporate booths where startups can hold on-site meetings even without prior matchmaking.
A series of major side programs are taking place alongside the main festival. These include the opening ceremony of the OpenData X AI Challenge, offering AI startups opportunities for testing and validation, the Challenge! K-Startup 2025 Grand Finale, the nation’s largest joint startup competition hosted by 10 government ministries; and the 2025 K-Startup Grand Challenge Demo Day, showcasing the year’s top foreign startup teams. The Venture & Startup Awards Ceremony, recognizing individuals and organizations that have contributed to Korea’s startup ecosystem, is also being held during the event period.
Major sessions and programs from COMEUP 2025 will be available for replay on the official COMEUP YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@COMEUP_org
